getting ready for semester auditions

I have this audition coming up on Friday and there's this one etude that I can not play at tempo. I'm shooting for a 1st part I have to beat 3 other people to get it. Do you think if I play my etude about 10 clicks below the regular tempo I'll lose points? Would tempo matter that much if the audition was close to perfection?

Is there an actual tempo marking, e.g., 116 bpm on the page, or is it something more along the lines of "Allegro?" If it's the latter, there is a bit of wiggle room for interpretation. Not much, but a little.

If you have the time and chops to do it, if the piece isn't extensive - if it's just a part of an etude or a number of selected measures - you might be able to push that tempo up a bit with a very basic practice technique I've used many times in the past. Start by setting your metronome just slower than the tempo you can play it - the trick is to really get the lines under your fingers first. HAMMER that until you can run it at that tempo with no mistakes. Then push it up by 1 or 2 bpm. Hammer that until you get it. Push it up by 1 or 2 more. Wash, rinse, repeat. (If you don't have a metronome, get one ASAP - even if you don't use it a lot, for times like this it sure comes in handy)

You might be surprised at how quickly those lines will fall under your fingers, but the trick is to be systematic about it. Unfortunately, you haven't left yourself much time. At this point, you have today and tomorrow - you should have been hammering this thing last week.

Is there an actual tempo marking, e.g., 116 bpm on the page, or is it something more along the lines of "Allegro?" If it's the latter, there is a bit of wiggle room for interpretation. Not much, but a little.

If you have the time and chops to do it, if the piece isn't extensive - if it's just a part of an etude or a number of selected measures - you might be able to push that tempo up a bit with a very basic practice technique I've used many times in the past. Start by setting your metronome just slower than the tempo you can play it - the trick is to really get the lines under your fingers first. HAMMER that until you can run it at that tempo with no mistakes. Then push it up by 1 or 2 bpm. Hammer that until you get it. Push it up by 1 or 2 more. Wash, rinse, repeat. (If you don't have a metronome, get one ASAP - even if you don't use it a lot, for times like this it sure comes in handy)

You might be surprised at how quickly those lines will fall under your fingers, but the trick is to be systematic about it. Unfortunately, you haven't left yourself much time. At this point, you have today and tomorrow - you should have been hammering this thing last week.

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I have 2 auditions for next week and this week. This Etude is supposed to be performed at a dotted quarter note equals 60 and I'm at a dotted equals 50. There is this part that has fast moving notes jumping through partials. That's the part I can't still play correct. Also just this and another line is crazy I can get the tempo right before next week. The music is the Texas all state music.I'm not one of those people who start practicing at the last minute I've been working on this music for a while.

I have this audition coming up on Friday and there's this one etude that I can not play at tempo. I'm shooting for a 1st part I have to beat 3 other people to get it. Do you think if I play my etude about 10 clicks below the regular tempo I'll lose points? Would tempo matter that much if the audition was close to perfection?

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Anyone that prepares only a couple of days in advance does not DESERVE the first book. Perfection means transmitting the musical message. Tempo can be a BIG issue!

Man the internet has DESTROYED common sense. Just download a cheat and get first book. I wish that I knew the bandmaster...........

You need a SEMESTER to prepare for SEMESTER auditions. Habits are built in months and years, not days and weeks.

This is really the root of the problem... It's not just you... but the secondary music education system is NOT focused on making you a great trumpet player. It is geared towards teaching you how to play whatever the "tune of the moment" is. In the fall is is the marching band show, then the fall concert tunes, then the all region music, then the contest tunes (both jazz band and concert band), then the spring concert tunes, and finally.. the audition music for next years chair placements. You are essentially on your own to learn how to play the trumpet. The band director WANTS you to play better, but can't spend any time individually teaching you to play your horn. The kids that do best have had a good private lesson teacher and also a dedicated focused practice program.

Quit working on tunes and start working on learning to master the fundamentals of playing the trumpet.

What you really need to be working on (for a majority of your practice time) is a dedicated program of mastering the fundamentals of playing the trumpet. Every day.
Flexibilities (Irons, Colin), Articulations (Arban), Intervals & Scales (Rich Willey, Dan Haerle), Strength/Range, Longtones/Flow Studies (Schlossberg, Chicowicz) , Lyrical/Melodic work (Arban, Concone), Technical (Arban/Clarke), Literature Etudes (Charlier, Wurm, Bitsch, Brandt, etc..)

When you can do all THOSE things then you can quickly play ANYTHING that shows up on your stand. Your problem NOT that you can't play this piece at a certain tempo... is that you lack in trumpet fundamental training. This etude just exposes that.

Also just this and another line is crazy I can get the tempo right before next week.

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The cure for this is to NOT try to get FASTER... but master it SLOWER. REALLY SLOW! Identify the fundamental skill that is breaking down when you go faster. Work on THAT fundamental skill rather than mindlessly ripping through reps trying to get faster and faster. If you are talking about the WURM #26 Etude, the TMEA indication is dotted quarter at 60-72bpm. Wurm marked it at 69bpm. I would say that 60 is the lower minimum, but closer to 70 is the correct tempo. Which lick is the problem child for you??

Even so, I think it is far better to play it cleanly, musically, and stylistically correct at 50bpm than slop through it too quickly and clam it up at a tempo beyond your means. You will be essentially affirming that you have technical deficiencies at the marked tempo, but if you really nail it at 50-55bpm then they will only have heard you sounding great.

Unfortunately, you haven't left yourself much time. At this point, you have today and tomorrow - you should have been hammering this thing last week.

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TMEA published the etude list in JULY. You have had a solid 4 months. The good news is that everyone else is in the same boat as you are!! You don't have to be better than Vizzutti... just better than the schlub from across town!

Start implementing a solid program of fundamentals NOW in addition to your "tune of the moment" practice and NEXT year you will be far better off. And, start looking at the rest of the WURM book. the etudes for next year will be from there too!